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In January 2018, GAF successfully established Geological Data Management and Information system (GDMIS) for the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy & Mining in Malawi.

A modern, reliable management of existing geological and mining data is a large asset for a nation to better understand existing assets, recognize future mineral potentials, and attract interest of the extractive industry and/or as base for mine monitoring. The GDMIS project, funded by the Worldbank, established such a management and geographic information system for the Geological Survey Department (GSD) as the main beneficary. GDMIS bases on a web-technology, allowing the concurrent administration and evaluation of non-public (intranet) data and the promotion of public (internet) data to attract possible investors of the extractive industry. The opening of the website will be in the new future – after clearance of copyright issues.

GSD has at the moment approximately 2 Terabyte of digital geodata and scanned documents, originating from colonial times and several geosurveying campaigns. Additional data, with approximate the same volume will be added in new future stemming from actually running geosurveys. The new system is the main tool to archive, manage, evaluate, cross-relate all these information. In particular the geographic information system component of the system allows the combined spatial and attribute querying. This is of major importance in the recognition of possible future prospect potentials to attract further interest of the extractive industry.

After a thorough analysis of the technical, data and human resource requirements, the project developed a prototype and started together with client’s staff the data and metadata acquisition for the system. Today the GDMIS achieves to store, load, edit, retrieve, visualize, analyse and detect correlations between the data and metadata from all relevant sources and thematic sectors like mining cadastre, topography, environment, geophysics, geology, prospecting, geochemistry etc. The consultant and the client’s technical staff established together – on basis of the actual needs and requirements of the Geological Survey in Malawi – dedicated and standardized workflows to continue the integration of the existing and future analogue and digital data.

Aside the development and implementation of the GDMIS, technical capacity training for data capturing, as well as user and administrator training accompanied the project.

GAF, a German technical consultancy (www.gaf.de), used its modular and scalable software GeMinIS (Geological and Mineral Information System, https://www.gaf.de/content/geminis) to realize this project. GAF AG proved again its capacities in the technical consulting of complex spatial data project for clients all over the world.


The photo shows the team of the Geological Survey Department.

SAR data have successfully been introduced for the significant improvement of mapping projects. Through an innovative Approach, the radar data complement and enhance the multispectral optical EO data analysis.

This results in higher accuracy and automation – delivering better quality at lower costs. The new approach has been developed and verified in the frame of a EEA funded Copernicus project, where the grassland all over Europe (EEA39, around 6’000’000 km²) is mapped.

The prize has been awarded on November 2nd in the category “Radical Innovation” in the frame of a ceremony at Telespazio Headquarters in Rome.

The overall project objective aims at improving the governance in the mining sector by establishing a transparent system for granting and managing mineral permits. The efficient and reliable administration of such titles is considered to be a key factor in increasing investment and growth in the Republic of Tajikistan’s mining sector. The project was embedded in the “Private Sector Competitiveness Project” financed by World Bank.

Based on its 20 years experience in designing and implementing mineral cadastre systems for jurisdictions across the globe, GAF successfully completed the implementation of a modern computerized mining cadastre in the Republic of Tajikistan. In practical terms, the project involves implementing a rule-based, computerised management system with GIS functionality that caters for the entire life cycle of mineral titles.

Following a thorough analysis of the administrative preconditions, the mineral law and the regulatory framework, the GAF team has established cadastral procedures following international best practice. Based on this achievement, a suitable open source computerized platform has been designed, developed and implemented enabling the transparent management of licenses and tender processes. The whole implementation was accompanied by intensive institutional and technical capacity building activities within the cadastral organisation.

Thus, Tajikistan is now on a good way to attract its mining sector for international investors and to make better use of its impressing suite on mineral resources by transformation of the raw material wealth into a continuous and constant source of income for the government and the society.


The photo shows the Main Department of Geology

GAF is currently completing the AMGI-ESA project. The African Mineral Geoscience Initiative (AMGI), promoted by the World Bank, is an initiative for the collection, the consolidation, the interpretation and the dissemination of national and regional geoscience data.

In this frame, GAF has developed products based on Sentinel data and other satellite data (optical, radar and DEM) in four demonstration areas in Africa in different climate zones. The products are integrated together in a database with geophysical and ancillary data for a synoptic interpretation.

This project successfully demonstrates on how to map large areas in a fast, efficient and area wide mode. The approach is of particular interest for regional geological surveys as well as for mineral exploration. The results will fuel the geological information catalogue for Africa and provide an important input to AMGI, which seeks the improved information access for governments, mineral stakeholders, and more generally for planners and natural resource managers – thus becoming an enabler for future investments in Africa. The project is funded by the European Space Agency (ESA).

The Master Territorial Management Plan (General Development Plan) for Bolyarovo municipality, South-East of Bulgaria – on the border between Bulgaria and Turkey, is developed by a consortium headed by Agency of Sustainable Development and Eurointegration – Ecoregions (ASDE). ReSAC experts take part in the design team.

The Master Territorial Management Plan (General Development Plan) covers the whole territory of the municipality (667.33 km2) with 20 settlements with their legally associated lands with center Bolyarovo.

The requirement for Master Territorial Management Plan, is based on the significant changes in the socio-economic environment and the conditions, in which the economy, the social area, the technical infrastructure, the natural environment are developed. These changes affect the processes, related to the development of the main functional systems of Bolyarovo municipality, which have defined requirements to the spatial planning of the municipal territory. The Master Territorial Management Plan is developed on the basis of Art. 124 of the Spatial Development Act and Decision of the Municipal Council for development of Master plans.


Fig. 1 Location of Municipality of Bolyarovo

The Plan is developed as a project in two phases: preliminary and final project. It is accompanied by environmental assessment, according the provisions of the Environmental Protection Act and/or the Law for the Biological Diversity.

In response of the new tendencies of the EU policies, especially in regional management, new CAP, strengthening resilience, data harmonization and regular monitoring of changes, some innovation practices are included in the General Development Plan, as example

  • Harmonized Databases and Smart Geo-portal
  • Regular monitoring of changes based on satellite images interpretation and the standard ISO 19144-2;
  • Integrated risk management and prevention planning, using Local Exposure and Loss Information Databases;

The RESAC Center, in cooperation with the ASDE, carried out additional activities within the frame of the development of Master Territorial Management Plan for Bolyarovo Municipality.

In the ReSAC Center an analysis was made of forest areas affected by bark beetles. The analysis is based on the alarming rates and the ubiquitous spread of a bark beetle invasion that covers large areas of coniferous forests across the country. A map is created that gives an idea of the exact locations (hot spots) trees subjected to drying, which can be used in the fight against the invasion of bark beetles. It was estimated the area of the affected territories and had made an indicative analysis of the loss of pulp (See Figure 1). Satellite image from the European satellite Sentinel 2, dated August 24, 2017, were used for analyzes. The image is subjected to additional processing, interpretation and automated classification in the ReSAC. Spectral channel combinations are used: NIR-Red-Green / Red-Green-Blue.


Fig. 2 Territories affected by bark beetles.

With a view to the proper implementation of tasks in preparing General Development Plan for Bolyarovo municipality was extracted additional information from satellite imagery associated with land cover, land use and related changes over the years. For this purpose were used images from:

  • the European satellite Sentinel 2, date 3 May 2017
  • Korean satellite with SAR KOMPSAT 5, date 11 April 2014 and 5 May 2016

It was made radiometric and field processing of the image from the satellite KOMPSAT-5 in order to be compared with the Sentinel 2 image and were distinguished basic types of land cover. A more detailed study of the specifics of the different types of Land Cover and, in particular, of the types of land cover in the urban environment is to be explored in order to study the changes in the different years.


Fig. 3 Combining radar with optical image.

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Remote Sensing Application Center – ReSAC –
61, Tzar Assen Str., fl. 2, 1463, Sofia, Bulgaria. Tel/Fax: +35929800731
E-mail: resac@techno-link.com www.resac-bg.org

12 January 2018. British ‘New Space’ pioneer Earth-i has confirmed that the pre-production prototype satellite of its upcoming satellite constellation was successfully launched earlier today.

The new commercial constellation – which the company announced is called Vivid-i – will be the first of its kind to provide full-colour video; and the first European-owned constellation able to provide both video and still images.

The multiple satellites within the Vivid-i Constellation will significantly increase the ability of companies and institutions to monitor, track and analyse activities, patterns of life and changes at any location on earth.

Dr Graham Turnock, Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency, said: “Today’s launch is a significant moment for the UK and global space industries with Earth-i’s progress being tracked across the world. Earth-i is an exciting and innovative British company and is a fine example of our thriving space sector.

“The Government’s recently published Industrial Strategy set out a clear vision for the UK to become the world’s most innovative nation and we are working with industry to capture 10% of the global space market by 2030.”

The prototype satellite, designated CARBONITE-2 by manufacturer Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), was launched on the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from the Sriharikota rocket launch centre operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation, located in South East India.

CARBONITE-2 is a technology demonstration mission, operated by SSTL, and will be referred to as VividX2 by the Earth-i team.

It will demonstrate and prove technology and processes for Earth-i’s forthcoming constellation including tasking, data downlinks to ground stations, image quality and the complex motion control systems that enable the spacecraft to capture video from space.

The satellite weighs 100kg and will orbit at 505km above the earth travelling at approximately 7km a second. At the heart of the new satellite is an Ultra High Definition (UHD) camera which will capture high-resolution images for any location on Earth – and film up to two minutes at a time of video which can show moving objects such as vehicles, vessels and aircraft.

Earth-i is at the forefront of an era known as New Space which is being driven by commercial and governmental organisations that want to use high-quality, timely images and video from space to improve investment and trading decisions, monitor and track their assets more cost effectively, track changes or activities in critical locations – and predict future events with more certainty.

Earth-i is working with the space industry’s most innovative and dynamic companies. It has already ordered the next five satellites for its Vivid-i constellation from SSTL; appointed Norway’s KSAT (Kongsberg Satellite Services) to provide ground network services; and commissioned software from Swedish photogrammetry and imagery specialist, Spacemetric, to manage, catalogue and geometrically correct images and video from its new prototype satellite.

Josef Aschbacher, Director of Earth Observation Programmes at the European Space Agency (ESA) said: “The launch of VividX2 is a significant next development of Earth-i’s constellation, and welcomed by ESA. The Vivid-i Constellation will provide capabilities we haven’t seen before including full-colour video, and an assured stream of high-quality data from space to help improve both our planet and our lives on Earth. ESA looks forward to working with Earth-i to assess the benefits of Vivid-i observations as part of a renewed effort of ESA to engage with commercial companies to support European Earth Observation ventures.”

Earth-i’s Vivid-i Constellation will be a major leap forward for the Earth Observation industry providing a number of innovative capabilities including:

  • The provision of high-frame rate images with resolutions better than one metre for any location on Earth.
  • The ability to film moving objects such as vehicles, vessels and aircraft in Ultra High Definition colour video.
  • Revisiting the same location multiple times per day with agile satellites that can be pointed to image specific areas of interest.
  • Rapid tasking of satellites to take images or video, and fast data download within minutes of acquisition.

Footage will be available for analysis within minutes of being captured and will improve decision-making and response times in a wide variety of scenarios from change detection to object identification, from disaster response to infrastructure monitoring.

Richard Blain, CEO of Earth-i, said: “Today is a significant milestone for Earth-i and for the global space industry. It’s the culmination of much hard work by the teams at Earth-i and SSTL. We are now researching and testing the technology and data services for the Vivid-i Constellation using the still and video imagery from this prototype – and showing our customers what will be possible in the future from new capabilities such as colour video from space.”

Helsinki, FINLAND – January 12, 2018. Historical launch of ICEYE-X1 on India’s PSLV-C40 rocket sends first ever under 100 kg SAR satellite into orbit.

ICEYE, the leader in synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) technology for microsatellites providing expanded access to reliable and timely earth observation data, today announced the successful launch of its proof-of-concept satellite mission, ICEYE-X1, on ISRO’s PSLV-C40 rocket. The success of the launch, from Satish Dhawan Space Center in India, distinguishes ICEYE-X1 as the world’s first microsatellite equipped with synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) to ever be deployed in space and as Finland’s very first commercial satellite. Making further history, ICEYE has also successfully established communications with the 70 kg satellite at 05:20, GMT (07:20 Finland time) now in orbit, signaling the next step in the mission’s success.

ICEYE-X1 is ICEYE’s initial proof-of-concept microsatellite mission using a SAR sensor. The goal of the mission is to validate in-orbit performance of the satellite and begin operations with select ICEYE customers. Data received from the satellite in space can be used for a wide variety of use cases including monitoring changing sea ice for maritime and environmental uses, tracking marine oil spills and helping to prevent illegal fishing, to name a few examples.

“ICEYE has been committed to enabling better decision making for everyone with Earth observation capabilities, and now through this new SAR data source, we are closer than ever to unlocking that potential across many different industries,” said Rafal Modrzewski, CEO and co-founder of ICEYE. “I am extremely proud of the ICEYE team who have now, for the first time in the world, opened up the possibilities of the miniaturization of SAR technology. With the support from the Finnish and European communities, Aalto University, Tekes, Horizon 2020, all of our investors, our extremely talented advisors, and so many more who’ve supported us, we have been able to achieve this crucial milestone.”

Throughout 2018, ICEYE has at least two additional proof-of-concept satellite missions planned to further develop and demonstrate the capabilities of the company’s SAR technology. To mitigate the inherent risks associated with rocket launches and to verify specific provider capabilities, ICEYE has opted to launch its three initial missions each through different launch providers. ICEYE’s next launch of a proof-of-concept satellite, ICEYE-X2, is currently indicated by the next launch’s provider to occur during the summer of 2018.

At the conclusion of the initial proof-of-concept missions, ICEYE will launch a constellation of more than 18 SAR-enabled microsatellites to bring reliable high-temporal-resolution imaging to the market. ICEYE’s constellation, once fully deployed, will allow users to accurately image any point on Earth within only a few hours, regardless of weather or darkness.

Source

Published on 13 December 2017 on DHI-GRAS blog by Torsten Bondo.
In many parts of the world, water resources are under pressure due to the ever-increasing demand from growing populations and the need for increased agricultural production. Water scarcity is expected to increase in the future, in particular for the 40% of the world classified as semi-arid.

Access to water is therefore recognised as one of the main economic drivers in the semi-arid areas and the United Nations has included water use efficiency as one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) indicators. However, seen from a policy and investment perspective, there are significant knowledge gaps and uncertainties in how much water is available, used and extracted from these regions. Better data on water use is called for to improve agricultural planning.

Mapping of irrigated agriculture using satellites

Using satellite data, we can calculate the consumed water for irrigation from a number of inputs including biomass production, rainfall and soil inputs. Satellite-based calculation of evapotranspiration (ET) is key to this and reliable and robust time series of ET records are essential in improving the above.

While there are a variety of existing remote sensing ET methods and data products available (for example, the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Water Productivity Open-access portal – WaPOR), none of them fully satisfies the user needs for reliable, high-resolution, operational and easily accessible ET estimates and processing tools.

The limitations have so far primarily been centered on the input data sources (such as coarse thermal data), as well as the research and the open access to implemented methods. With the recent launch of Sentinel 2 and 3, the data foundation for creating reliable high resolution ET methods has been established.

Improved resolution and estimate of evapotranspiration worldwide

A joint effort called SEN-ET between the European Space Agency (ESA), DHI GRAS, IRTA and Sandholt APS is working on reviewing and implementing methods for the earth observation estimation of ET by the fusion of Sentinel 2 and Sentinel 3 data.

Machine learning algorithms will be used to sharpen low-resolution Sentinel-3 thermal data with the high-resolution Sentinel-2 optical images. The resulting high resolution datasets are then used as input to a land-surface energy balance model to estimate ET at high spatial resolution. This will significantly improve the resolution and estimate of ET worldwide. The novelty here is therefore the downsampling of the data down to plot and farm size and the availability of seasonal data coverage allowing for full seasonal crop cycle assessment.

So much more you can do with satellites

There are many other solutions that satellite mapping can offer. An example is the EO4SD (Earth Observation for Sustainable Development) initiative, where DHI GRAS is cooperating with international finance institutions and national stakeholders on three different continents to deliver water solutions from satellites.

Among other things, we are delivering a national map of irrigation extent for the Malawi National Water Resource Authority. This map will be integrated into the national water licensing system to compare actual licensed area with instances of non-licensed water usage.

Ultimately, this would help safeguard the environment and avoid conflicts by ensuring better monitoring and management of water resources in Malawi. This project will serve as a blueprint for other countries in the region.

‘There is so much more to do related to this. Satellite remote sensing of ET is an essential part of global observation systems and provides inputs for agriculture, water resources management, weather forecasts, climate studies and many other applications. What I have described is merely the tip of the iceberg.’


Irrigated vs non-irrigated land cover mapping in Malawi as part of EO4SD ‘Water’ Cluster. This map is crucial input to a national scale water licensing system. © DHI GRAS

Learn more

Click here to find out how satellite imagery can help you deliver solutions in a smarter way.

DHI GRAS is one of the world’s leading providers of Satellite Derived Bathymetry. From our physics based methods, our proprietary software allows production of high quality and very detailed water depth data based on optical data in a spatial resolution ranging from 2m – 30m. We are currently building an online database with detailed 2m bathymetry data accessible through the Bathymetrics Data Portal.

Try exploring the 3D interactive animation below of an atoll from South China Sea. Simply click here to see the atoll from different angles or to zoom in or out.

This example came about through dialogue with the modelling community and major oil and gas companies to better understand the evolution of atolls. Why is there a need for this? Understanding how atolls evolve helps us make informed decisions about exploration activities – thereby securing optimal use of resources.

One of the key advantages of using satellite derived bathymetry is the low costs involved.

Learn more about the Bathymetrics Data Portal

ArTeK is a NAIS (NEXTANT Applications & Innovative Solutions) initiative in the frame of ARTES 20 IAP programme of the European Space Agency (ESA), supported by the Italian Space Agency (ASI). It consists of an advanced satellite enabled service for the support of Cultural Heritage (CH) preventive conservation, bridging a gap in the market where systematic high frequency monitoring over a medium-to-large spatial coverage scale is, to date, not available.

ArTeK system enables the provision of an end-to-end service – going from the collection of geo-physical and site-specific parameters for the calculation of key indicators, to the implementation of site-specific risk and decision support models, based on hierarchical / multi temporal / multi-sensory methods. Through the ArTeK services, the monitoring of the state of conservation of Cultural Heritage is more efficient. This improves the decision-making and programmatic capacity of institutions responsible for conservation, reducing in this way maintenance costs.

MAIN ARTEK ARCHITECTURE AND EARTH OBSERVATION COMPONENT

The main functional components of the system make use of both terrestrial, unmanned aerial and space elements including earth observation data, satellite positioning data and satellite communication services jointly exploited for the provision of an end-to-end service applicable to organizations responsible for the management of cultural properties, from safeguard support to management of visitors and fruition.

Satellite Earth Observation within ArTeK is used for serval purposes including:

  • Identification and evaluation of environmental hazards that could have a potential negative impact over cultural assets
  • Conditions evaluations
  • Sites and artifacts mapping
  • Identification of changes.

USING SARSCAPEINTERFEROMETRIC TECHNIQUES FOR MONITORING TIVOLI AND HADRIAN`S VILLA NEAR ROME

SAR data is acquired from COSMO-SkyMed and Sentinel-1 satellites and directly ingested into SARscape via the dedicated data download tool. Data over a period from 2013 to 2017 is automatically analyzed to generate a Persistent Scatterers (PS) multitemporal analysis displayed on a map in order to monitor and understand high accuracy ground subsidence in this earthquake prone area, infrastructure displacement dynamics and site motion hazards. The institution responsible for conservation of the site can then use this information and provide maintenance accordingly.


Persistent Scatterers analysis of Tivoli using 89 COSMO-SkyMed images taken between 2014 and 2017

USING ENVICLASSIFICATION AND THEMATIC CHANGE ANALYSIS FOR ANTHROPOGENIC MONITORING OF THE TIVOLI HISTORICAL CENTRE

A time series of optical satellite imagery covering the Tivoli area is collected from WorldView-3, imported in ENVI and coregistered. A support vector machine classification – an automated workflow in ENVI – is then run on all images to classify terrain specification. Changes are automatically analyzed and laid on a classification map.

For increased accuracy NAIS has also developed a custom task workflow using IDL, Harris`s own powerful development language that allows extending ENVI features and functionality to fit bespoke project requirements. Within this custom workflow, panchromatic and multispectral images of the area are analyzed and classification results are fused to present the output on a final, more accurate classification map.

This kind of analysis helps to understand the urbanization of the Tivoli area and detect any new excavations, dumps or illegal digging that might harm the environment and have a negative impact on cultural assets within Tivoli.


Classification map of the Tivoli historical centre with objects fusion using a custom ENVI workflow designed with IDL

About Harris Geospatial Solutions

Harris Geospatial is the world leader in image science software and supporting technologies. Our products have helped scientists explore space, see the human body in new ways, and understand the world around them. Today, our customers rely on our in-depth knowledge of advanced geospatial analytics, big data management technologies, and remotely sensed data, along with a highly turned process for applying deep learning to deliver value across a variety of industries.

To find out more about SARscape, ENVI, IDL and other Harris Geospatial Products, go to www.harrisgeospatial.com

Images and content reproduced with permission of NEXTANT Applications & Innovative Solutions.

For more information about the ArTeK Project logon to https://business.esa.int/projects/artek or contact artek-info@nais-solutions.it